International trade statistics: trends in fourth quarter 2015

Global trade slowdown continues in Q4 2015

01/03/2016 - G20 total international merchandise trade, seasonally adjusted and expressed in current US dollars, continued to contract in the fourth quarter of 2015. Exports fell for the sixth consecutive quarter (by 1.6% in Q4 2015), while imports fell for the seventh consecutive quarter (by 1.9%).

Export values fell significantly in Q4 2015 across large oil exporters including Canada (by 5.4%), Russia (2.2%), Indonesia (7.9%) and Saudi Arabia, reflecting falling oil prices and an appreciating US dollar. In South Africa and Brazil, imports continued to contract (by 6.2% and 9.2% respectively) to close to their lowest levels in six years.

Imports also fell significantly in India (by 8.1%). In the United States imports fell for the sixth straight quarter (by 2.7%), with exports also declining for the second consecutive quarter (by 3.5%). In Mexico, exports and imports were down by 2.3% and 2.8% respectively.

Exports and imports by the European Union (EU28) fell for a sixth consecutive quarter, by 1.0% and 1.4% respectively, with exports falling in France (by0.3%), Germany (2.3%) and the United Kingdom (1.4%) while they remained unchanged in Italy. Imports picked up, however, in France and the United Kingdom by 0.9% and 0.3% respectively.

For the year 2015 as a whole, G20 exports fell by 11.3% while imports fell by 13.0%. Declines in both imports and exports were recorded in all G20 economies in 2015. Saudi Arabia recorded the largest fall in exports over the period while Russia recorded the largest fall in imports, (in both cases by more than 35%).

G20 total international merchandise tradeSeasonally adjusted, current prices and US$ billion

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